Checking OCD

[BrianTS]

Hi all,

I have checking OCD particularly around losing money and making mistakes.

I'm checking my banking app what feels like continually and mind is suggesting money has disappeared. I've had many sessions of CBT which basically suggest to stop checking and I'll feel better. The issue is I can't do this consistently.

Any ideas or comments would be great.

Thanks.

[ecomum]

I sometimes get caught in this checking cycle. The best thing that helped me was a book by Jeff Bell called "when in doubt makebelieve" .it really helped .

[BrianTS]

Thank you 

 

[Albertina]

I know its tough to stop checking when you get thoughts of losing money. You can try to reduce the number of times checking your banking app. For example if you check your app for 10 times in an hour than try to reduce it to 9 after some time make it 8 than 7 and so on. I hope this helps you.

[Gemma@OCDUK]

Hi Brian

It does sound like the CBT you had previously was more like Behavioural therapy instead of Cognitive Behavioural therapy. The difference between the two is that in CBT you look at the meanings we place on our worries and then seek to challenge them rather that just challenge the behaviours on their own. Doing behavioural therapy on its own can work but it's unlikely to have a long lasting affect as you've found.

Was the therapy you accessed on the NHS or private?

Gemma

[BrianTS]

Gemma, it's definitely CBT accessed through iapt. We did go through meaning, tried exposure therapy but crux of it is I must stop checking if I'm to get better. Easier said than done when I get overwhelming doubt and uncertainty

[Gemma@OCDUK]

On 10/10/2020 at 10:39, BrianTS said:

Gemma, it's definitely CBT accessed through iapt. We did go through meaning, tried exposure therapy but crux of it is I must stop checking if I'm to get better. Easier said than done when I get overwhelming doubt and uncertainty

Hi Brian,

Unfortunately it's common for sufferers to sometimes see two or three therapists before they find one that they feel able to tackle OCD with. So, if you didn't feel ready to do the exposure exercises with your last therapist it might be worth trying a different therapist who might have more expertise or an approach more suited to you. If you've tried multiple therapists through IAPT it might then be worth looking into accessing one of the NHS specialist services in London or Oxford for your OCD. 

Gemma

[BrianTS]

I wish I could be braver and just resist checking. I realise it's a compulsion to neutralise anxiety caused by doubt but it's almost impossible to resist. If Im on my banking app and there's a glitch or I press the wrong button I fear I've lost money. If I transfer say £5.00 to a friend I think I've transferred £500.00. If I receive change from a shop I feel I need to check it repeadetly. All these things I know are unlikely and realistically there is little chance of losing money..but the tiniest whiff of "what if" and intense anxiety hits me. 

My next thought is even though I don't want to should I dose myself up with anti depressants? The nice guild lines so I been told suggest taking an SSRI with CBT but having taken them for years I truly don't want to go back to relying on them.

[BrianTS]

Thanks for the advice Gemma, I've already got my name of a waiting list for more CBT. 

In the meantime I'll try and rationalize my checking.